Of Polka Dots and Silver Lace
by ice-crisis
Summary: When Riku loses what he thought was a fail-safe bet against Sora, he has to grant Sora three favors with no conditions attached. But Sora has a plan, and Riku is in for a surprise. Riku/Sora, T for language and Riku's less than innocent thoughts.


**Hi! This is my first time posting a story for Kingdom Hearts, so please review and let me know what you think! :)**

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and all characters associated with it belong to Disney and Square Enix. Really, if I owned them, would I be writing fanfiction? **

* * *

They were big. They were round. They were red.

They had polka dots on them.

"They're _perfect_," Sora whispered in awe, lifting them down from the rack.

Riku sighed. Somehow, when he'd bet that Sora couldn't eat thirty sea salt ice-cream pops in one sitting, he hadn't expected this. Of course, he hadn't expected to lose either, partially because it shouldn't be possible for anyone to eat that much, but mostly because when he'd made the bet they didn't _sell _sea salt ice-cream in Destiny Islands. Sora had managed to get around both problems—the latter by calling in a trans-world favor to his friends in Twilight Town, and the former by tapping into his inner Roxas and then eating enough for the both of them.

Still, when Sora had said that if he won Riku would have to do him three… favors… his mind had taken him in a different direction entirely. Truth be told, he should probably feel ashamed of himself.

But he hadn't expected _shopping_.

So after Sora had called him and said, "Favor number one," he was bemused to find himself standing in a tacky souvenir shop while his best friend—and apparently nothing more—searched through the merchandise. He had hoped that Sora was going to use his favors, which had no conditions of any kind attached to them, to ask him to… well, do all those things that he knew, deep down, Sora wanted.

Apparently, what Sora wanted, deep down, was for Riku to buy him a hideous pair of polka dotted sunglasses.

He didn't let it bother him, though. Sora could waste a favor if he wanted to, and if anybody could wear those things and manage not to look like a deranged tourist it was Sora. Sora looked cute in just about everything he wore. So he didn't mind… until he asked Sora where it was he was planning to wear them.

Sora laughed.

"They're not for _me_," he said with that particular grin that meant he had come up with what he considered to be a Great Plan.

That was when Riku started to worry.

"But—"

"Favor number two," interrupted Sora cheerfully, and the dread started to build.

Riku didn't object, even as they went around the shops acquiring a straw sunhat, sandals, and a decorative polka dotted scarf that matched the glasses so perfectly that it was obviously a product of universal conspiracy. A bet was a bet, after all, and whatever tortures he was about to be subjected to, it couldn't be worse than what he'd put Sora through when he betrayed him.

Probably.

Suffering in silence, however, was off the agenda when they reached the beach and he saw who was standing there wearing a mischievous grin that was an uncanny replica of Sora's. The only difference was that on Sora the expression was endearing, while on Kairi it looked downright demonic.

He was already backing away before he even saw what she had slung over her arm.

"Sora, _no_," he said firmly.

"Favor number two," Sora said again.

"NO."

"You promised," Sora reminded him. "Three favors, anything I want."

"Well, yeah, but—"

"Oh, come on, Riku, it's not _that_ bad," said Kairi with unconvincing glee. "And he's right; you did promise him anything he wanted." She grinned. "What did you expect him to ask you for?"

"Um."

"Pleeeeaaase?" added Sora.

And there was the pout.

Riku sighed, and, taking the dress from Kairi, headed off to one of the public changing rooms that lined the beach, damning karma all the way.

It fit, which implied that the two of them had bought it for the sole purpose of humiliating him. Obviously this was some kind of subconscious vengeance being wrought on him for being cruel to Roxas and Namine. There was just no way Sora could have come up with something this… _diabolical_ all by himself.

The only question now was that if this was favor two… what was favor number three?

Riku shuddered.

"Are you coming out?"

"Are you _crazy?_"

Kairi snickered.

"It's just that I'm supposed to help you accessorize, and I'd rather not be here until dark. So you can either come out now or do it again tomorrow. Because there's no way you're getting out of this."

"Fine, I'm coming," he mumbled. Doing it twice was absolutely _not _an option.

So, after five minutes of fiddling with the scarf and hat, during which Kairi didn't even bother trying to stifle her giggles, he walked onto the beach in full drag.

It was a simple white sundress. The neckline was modest but not high, and the garment was knee-length, sporting a full skirt of wispy material and a delicate ruffle of silver lace around the edge. Closer inspection revealed that the lace, which matched the color of Riku's hair with disturbing accuracy, highlighted the bodice as well. The sandals were the same color, as was the band of cloth that decorated the straw sunhat. The scarf had been tied around his neck as a jarring splash of color, looking, in all its red and white polka dotted glory, like something Minnie Mouse might wear when she wasn't busy being Queen of Disney Castle.

And, of course, the sunglasses.

Sora couldn't stop laughing for over ten minutes. Eventually, after rolling around in the sand in hysterics, the laughter tapered off into giggles and he managed to regain some control over himself. It was only then that he noticed that Riku wasn't actually _wearing_ the sunglasses.

"Hey," he said, liberating them from their perch on the sunhat and attempting to look solemn—an attempt ruined entirely by lingering hiccups, "you have to wear _all_ of it or it doesn't count."

"Sora," Riku responded somberly, "don't you think I've spent enough time in darkness?"

It was a good line, he thought, but somehow it didn't sound quite so suave coming from a teenage boy in a lacy white dress.

Sora shrugged.

"Ok," he said, putting the sunglasses on himself instead. "Then we can match!" he added, grinning happily, and damned if it wasn't adorable.

Riku blinked, attempting to bring his thoughts back from their sudden residency in the gutter. Kairi laughed quietly at his expression, and then looked at her watch and sighed.

"I promised Selphie I would go shopping with her," she said. "Why don't you two get out of public view and go back to our island?" She grinned. "Save poor Riku at least a little bit of dignity."

"Good idea, Kairi," Sora agreed. "We can show Tidus and Wakka!"

"Yeah," muttered Riku, looking at Kairi. "Dignity. Sure. Thanks."

"Oops."

The boat ride to their childhood playground was like a ferry into hell. Now Riku had not only the ever-mysterious favor number three to dread, but also a lifetime's worth of mocking. By the time the boat reached the shore, he was entertaining thoughts of drowning himself.

Unfortunately, he was close to getting his wish, because as he was stepping out of the little boat the dress caught for a moment and, off-balance, he was sent sprawling into the shallows.

He came up spluttering, just in time to hear Sora laughing at his expense once again.

"Sora," he all but growled, finally starting to crack.

"Sorry," Sora said sheepishly. "Are you… uh…"

At first, Riku didn't even notice the pause; he was too busy wringing out the hem of his dress. After a moment, however, he realized that Sora had stopped talking in the middle of a sentence and, nonplussed, Riku glanced at him.

Sora had gone bright red and was staring at him with wide eyes. Riku only had to glance down at himself, white dress plastered to him like cling-wrap and now utterly see-through, to see why.

Suddenly, he had a wicked idea.

"Hey, Sora," he said, trudging through the water, the edge of his soaked skirt swirling with every small wave. He was pleased to discover that with Sora still sitting in the boat, the two of them were eye to eye.

"Uh-huh?" Sora barely managed a response, eyes still fixed on the dress. Riku cupped his chin in one hand and moved the ridiculous sunglasses to perch them on Sora's spiky hair while at the same time forcing the suddenly incoherent boy's gaze to meet his.

"Have you thought up favor number three yet?" he asked in a playful voice, leaning in and noting with great enjoyment that Sora did not lean away.

"N-no…"

"Can I make a suggestion?"

"Wha...?"

Now only a hairsbreadth away, Riku grinned.

"This time," he said right before he closed the distance, "ask me to take the dress _off_."

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**Author's Note: I wrote this a while back for a friend of mine who gave me the prompt "Riku, Sora; Glasses." ...I'm still not really sure how that turned into this. I do remember that I originally had a _reason_ why Sora would want to do this to poor Riku. At some point I realized it would seem completely random no matter where I put it, so Riku's explanation is going to have to suffice. :P**

**Please Review! :D**


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